Modeling Vertical Multifractured Wells in Vaca Muerta Shale Oil Play, Argentina

Suarez, Mariano; Velasquez, Leonardo Vega; Monti, Luciano; Thompson, A..

doi:10.2118/164537-ms

Cited by 14 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Additional information regarding this discussion can be found in the work done by Suarez et al (2013), Cipolla et al (2011) and Clarkson et al (2011).…”

Section: Geological Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fracturing-to-Production Simulation Approach for Completion Optimization in the Vaca Muerta Shale

Suarez¹,

Pichon

Lacentre³

et al. 2015

SPE Latin American and Caribbean Petroleum Engineering Conference

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Production modeling is a process that requires analyzing several steps, from reservoir characterization, completion and hydraulic fracturing, up to the optimization in the production system. Traditionally these processes can be analyzed independently with separated specialized tools. However in unconventional reservoirs, as the Vaca Muerta shale, dependency between the stimulation treatment and the well productivity is critical. This work proposes a workflow to evaluate the joint impact of hydraulic fractures with the static and dynamic characterization of the reservoir.The available static information (geophysics, petrophysics, geomechanics and natural fracture interpretation) is integrated to build a geological model. Then, hydraulic fracturing is simulated numerically using the Unconventional Fracture Model (UFM). The model takes into account the interaction between the existing natural fractures and the created hydraulic fractures during the stimulation treatment. The resulting geometry of the hydraulic fractures is gridded in an unstructured manner. The model reproduces explicitly the volume and permeability with the appropriate distribution along each branch of hydraulic fractures according to the executed completion. Dynamic simulation can be run to perform a history match of the available production data. Hydraulic fracture geometry, driven by geomechanics and natural fractures, is a key component of the process and might be reviewed if no production match can be achieved making the overall workflow iterative. Additionally, automation through assisted history matching is proposed to investigate different possible solution and reduce the timeframe of the study.Once calibrated with production, the model allows several applications. The different possible solutions considered by the assisted history match process permit the evaluation of the uncertainty of final recovery when forecasting production. Sensitivity analysis over a given hydraulic fracture geometry shows the major role of the matrix saturation and conductivity degradation over the final recovery. Completion can be optimized by considering different scenarios and showing the direct correlation between generated propped surface and well productivity. Different fracture designs can be investigated to increase the propped surface highlighting the importance, not only of the proppant volume, but also of the proppant transport capability of the fracturing fluids to be used.

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“…Additional information regarding this discussion can be found in the work done by Suarez et al (2013), Cipolla et al (2011) and Clarkson et al (2011).…”

Section: Geological Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fracturing-to-Production Simulation Approach for Completion Optimization in the Vaca Muerta Shale

Suarez¹,

Pichon

Lacentre³

et al. 2015

SPE Latin American and Caribbean Petroleum Engineering Conference

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“…The technology of SRV is to achieve the important goal of increasing the contact area between matrix and fractures or fracture network as far as possible during the development of unconventional reservoirs [7,8]. The study and application of developing tight oil and shale oil reservoirs mostly focus on the natural depletion [9]. But some studies have shown that CO 2 flooding is an effective approach of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in tight reservoirs [6,10,11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Research of Gas Flooding of Horizontal Well with SRV in Tight Oil Reservoir

Liao¹

2015

J Pet Environ Biotechnol

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The characteristics of tight oil reservoir are low porosity and ultra-low permeability, thus stimulated reservoir volume (SRV) should be conducted whether applying the mode of vertical wells or horizontal wells production. Tight oil reservoir is mostly developed by natural depletion or water flooding recently, but the problems are existed, including low recovery factor with natural depletion and the difficulty of water injection. To further improve the development effect of tight oil reservoir, CO 2 flooding is proposed. Based on changing tight oil reservoir in Ordos Basin, an oil sample of typical block is selected. The PVT experiments are conducted. The compositional numerical model of five-spot pattern is established with a horizontal well in the middle and 4 vertical wells on the edge. Based on the model, several CO 2 flooding scenarios of horizontal well with different completion measures are studied. Furthermore, parameters such as the formation pressure, production rate, shut-in gas-oil ratio and total gas injection volume are optimized. The results of this study show that the recovery factor of horizontal well with SRV is higher than those of horizontal well and conventional fractured horizontal well. The study gives new ideas of CO 2 flooding with volume fractured horizontal well for the Ordos Basin tight oil reservoir. It can be helpful for rapid and effective development of tight oil reservoirs in Ordos Basin.

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